(I’m also most of the way through Armageddon’s Children, which is, as I was warned, pretty dang awful. I may need to decompress with something else before I read any more.)
Last week I was on a cruise for spring break, which was lovely. All the stress and anxiety I’ve been suffering from for the last month vanished, and I was able to live in the moment, which is actually pretty rare for me. My internal monologue runs pretty constantly, and often it cycles around whatever is bothering me. There were a number of times while we were on the trip that I realized my internal voice was silent.
Of course, it couldn’t last. I had a vague hope that I’d be able to take this as a learning moment and integrate some of this silence into my normal life, but the stress came knocking pretty much as quickly as my phone reconnected to the Internet.
(Probably the lesson is to hide the phone for hours at a time. Unfortunately, we live in a society that will not wait for you if you don’t get back in touch fast enough.)
Along with the bad, though, I had a couple of pleasant surprises waiting for me.
The first was that I was accepted into SFWA’s mentorship program. This is a 3-month program that pairs you with an experienced author and I have been trying to get in for years. (SFWA is the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers’ Association.) My mentor has already reached out, and I’m hopeful that this will be a rewarding experience.
The second is that I got a 5-star review on Hallowed Hill from Readers’ Favorite, and it is actually one of the most thoughtful reviews I’ve ever received.
Reviewed by S. Mathur for Readers’ Favorite
Hallowed Hill by Kit Campbell is a suitably creepy, entertaining, gripping tale set in a remote prep school in Vermont. This book is a real treat for fans of the horror genre, with all the classic elements present: a sinister landscape with ominous trees, a haunted mansion, a neglected cemetery, a sad ghost, and a heroine who is quite alone in the world. Newly-orphaned Martina Torsney wins a scholarship to the elite Greyson Preparatory Academy, with all expenses covered. The thing is, she did not apply for it, nor did anyone else on her behalf. Once there, the mystery deepens, as it seems none of the other scholarship students before her graduated from the school.
There are other mysteries as well; someone trashes Martie’s room and classroom, making sure she gets the blame. There are flickering lights, doors that lock themselves, and cryptic messages left for Martie in notes and on mirrors. The tension builds slowly and surely. The characters are perfectly defined; the rich kids with varying attitudes toward a presumably poor scholarship student, the teachers, good, bad, and creepy, and Martie herself, who must find the courage she didn’t know she had to face inexplicable terrors. Kit Campbell tells the tale with style and conviction, and crafts a very satisfying, unexpected, and genre-defying ending. Hallowed Hill is one of those books that will send chills down your spine, keep you up way past your usual bedtime, and leave you approaching mirrors with caution. Highly recommended.
Interesting that I got two bits of good news after months of silence, but I’ll take it! Cautiously optimistic that this is a sign of good change in the near future.
Plan moving forward here is to finish up my class (hopefully before April) and work on writing the short stories associated with that.
